Nikolaj (Sevastyanov)

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the metropolitan of Kiev of the same name, see Nikolai (Metropolitan) .

Metropolitan Nikolaj during a mass

Nikolaj (real name: Nikolaj Metodiew Sevastijanow , also Nikolay Metodiev Sevastiyanov written in Bulgarian Николай Методиев Севастиянов ; born July 19, 1969 in Sofia , Bulgaria ) is a Bulgarian Orthodox clergyman, metropolitan of the Holy Diocese of the Plovdiv Orthodox Church and former member of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church Bishop of the Bulgarian Orthodox Diocese of Western and Central Europe (2001–2007). After the death of Patriarch Maxim , Metropolitan Nikolaj was also the head of the diocese of Sofia from November 6th to November 11th, 2012 .

biography

After graduating from high school, Nikolay Metodiev Sevastyanov attended a two-year course at the Ivan Rilski Spiritual Academy in Sofia.

After graduating from the Theological Faculty of St. Kliment's University in Ohrid in Sofia, Nikolaj continued his studies at the Moscow Spiritual Academy , where he obtained the scientific title of “Candidate in Theological Science”.

He was ordained a monk on December 6, 1990, a priest on May 17, 1993, and Archimandrite on June 29, 1993 . During this time Nikolaj worked as a teacher at the Iwan Rilski Spiritual Academy and as a protosyngel at the Sofia Metropolitan Area.

On July 7, 2001, Nikolaj was ordained Bishop of the Bulgarian Orthodox Diocese of Western and Central Europe and became Vicar of the Metropolitan of Sofia. After the death of Metropolitan Arseniy of Plovdiv at the end of 2006, Nikolai was ordained Metropolitan of Plovdiv on February 4, 2007 and was confirmed by the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church on February 11 of the same year .

Views

society

During a church service in Kardzhali in 2008 he fervently opposed Bulgaria's integration into the European Union : What use is integration into the EU - [is it about] so that we do n't ban the gay parades, the parades of fornication in the cities can? In 2010 he attacked the Gay Parade again. Metropolitan Nikolaj condemned the discos as dens of demons and fornication , alcoholism and evil . At the award given to the mayor of the Bulgarian city of Pazardzhik , who had banned the display of homosexuality , Nikolaj declared with regard to lesbians and gays on September 6, 2010: It is the mission of the Church to condemn the devil if he tries to find the holy one To destroy order.

Misfortune in Lake Ohrid

One week after the concert by the singer Madonna in Sofia on August 29, 2009, 15 Bulgarians drowned in a shipwreck in Lake Ohrid . During the prayer for their souls, the metropolitan had interpreted the tragedy as God's punishment and attributed it to the decline of manners, including the concert of the singer Madonna on the day of the beheading of St. John the Baptist . He also recalled the resistance of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to the concert.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ в-к Новинар: детайли около гласуването
2. ↑ ^{a b} "Пловдивският митрополит Николай: Стига с тази интеграция, дотука!" , Enough with the integration, that's it! , vesti.bg, 26 декември 2008 г.
3. ^ Bulgarian Bishop: Gay Parade Stands for Depravity, Shame on www.novinite.com
4. ↑ Bulgarian Bishop: Gays destroy the “holy order” on www.queer.de
5. ↑ "Пловдивският митрополит Николай: Трагедията е божие наказание", speshno.info, 6 септември 2009 , Plovdiv Metropolitan St.
6. ↑ "Митрополит Николай: Бог ни наказа заради концерта на Мадона", novinitepro.bg, 6 септември 2009 г. ( Memento of the original from September 9, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Metropolitan Nikolaj: God punished us because of the concert of the singer Madonna 
7. ↑ "Митрополит Николай: Трагедията в Охрид е божие наказание", plovdiv.dir.bg, 6 септември 2009 г. , Metropolitan Nikolaj: The tragedy in Ohrid is God's punishment

predecessor	Office	successor
Arseny	Metropolitan of Plovdiv 2007–…	-